There is often a need in the medical industry for imaging systems that are extremely small in size. For example, miniature imaging systems are inserted into the human body and used to acquire images of features, which are used to diagnose diseases and disorders within the human body. One example of a miniature imaging system that is used in the medical industry is an endoscopy system. An endoscopy system is a miniature imaging system that is placed on the end of a long tube-like structure, which is inserted into the gastrointestinal digestive tract. As the tube-like structure is moved through the digestive tract, the imaging system captures images that are used to diagnose diseases and disorders of the gastrointestinal digestive tract. Another example of a medical imaging system is a capsule imaging system, which is a very tiny imaging system contained within a capsule having the same size and shape as a medicine pill. After being swallowed, the capsule travels along the gastrointestinal digestive tract. As the capsule travels along the digestive tract, the imaging system contained within the capsule records images that may be analyzed to diagnose diseases and disorders.
Because medical imaging systems of this type need to be extremely small in size, the components that are used in the imaging systems also need to be extremely small in size. The components of this type of medical imaging system include at least a light source for generating light and an optics system for collimating the light into a light beam and for directing the collimated light beam in a particular direction. The optics system may also need to be capable of blocking undesired wavelengths or orders of light so that only one or more desired wavelengths or orders of light is used to image features of interest. In addition, it may be desirable to produce multiple collimated beams, in which case the optics system also needs to include either a beam splitting element or an additional light source. If the optics system includes an additional light source, the optics system will typically also include additional refractive, diffractive and/or reflective elements for collimating the additional light beam and for directing the additional light beam in a particular direction. Furthermore, any beam splitting and light blocking functions should be performed with high efficiency to ensure that the intended beam or beams have the needed or desired amount of optical power.
Designing and implementing an optics system that is extremely small in size and, at the same time, is capable of performing all of these optical functions are very challenging tasks. Assuming, for example, the optics system includes beam collimating, beam splitting, and light blocking functionality, the optics system will typically include at least a first optical element for collimating the light beam produced by the light source, a second optical element for splitting the collimated light beam into multiple light beams, and a third optical element for blocking or suppressing undesired light. The arrangement of these optical elements typically consumes a significant amount of space, which may lead to the imaging system being undesirably large in size. Although it may be possible to perform the beam collimating and beam splitting functions with one optical element, another optical element is still needed to perform the light blocking/suppressing function. In such cases, the light-blocking/suppressing element will be located some distance away from the collimating and beam splitting optical element. For this reason, the arrangement of the two optical elements will still require the use of a significant amount of space. In addition, if the optical element that performs the beam collimating and beam splitting functions is not properly designed and implemented, it may produce undesired light outputs that result in a reduction in the optical efficiency and the signal to noise ratio of the optical system.
Accordingly, a need exists for an optics system that is capable of performing beam collimating, beam splitting and beam blocking functions with high efficiency and that can be implemented in an extremely small amount of space.